nestled somewhere along the mighty bank of the Rejang river, is a small quaint town called Song. Song....a rather weird name for a town. Sarawak has a history of weird sounding names for their towns. for example Bintangor town used to be called Binatang. translated to malay, Bandar Binatang. and there is this place in between Saratok and Sarikei which is called "Jakar." the first time i heard it i was like, "wat?!?! you mean there is a town called ZAKAR in Sarawak." and then there is this place after Bintulu called Similanjau National Park. now now now if you are hokkien like i am and who speaks to fast "Similanjau" might come out as "Simi-lancau" (very crude vulgar word for penis in hokkien) which might get you a slap in the face.
for example:
SCENARIO A
mother: Eh justine, how come you go holiday never tell me?? so where did you go ?
me: SIMI-LANCAU mom!!!
mother: *kapiak" (thats the sound when my mom slaps my flabby football cheeks)
SCENARIO B
New Hokkien Girl I Just Met (NHGIJM): wah justine ahhh.... i heard ah...you are working in SaLawak (hokkiens cant pronounce "R").
me: yes i am
NHGIJM: wahh, i is velli velli sure the place is sii behhh velli nice one lei. coLLect ot nottt (correct or not)??
me: yeah it is
NHGIJM: so what is nice to see there ah?
me: i dont know. maybe you should go SIMI-LANCAU
NHGIJM: wat!?!?!?! "See your lancau"!!! PUCK (fuck) you la kanineh!! *kapiak*
so how did the town got to be called Song?
the story goes that a hokkien group dropped by at this town many many years ago. one of them hokkien buggars like the place so much and felt so at ease here that he suddenly stood and shouted in hokkien, "Si beh Sooooooonnnnnnnnggggggggg ahhhhhhh!!!!" ("song" means "damm nice" or "bloody good" in hokkien). and since people might ha
ve problem writing down their address in official forms or mailing letters as -Soooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg, the wise BN goverment decided to shorten it
down to just "SONG."
so here I am, 3 months into my rural posting. maybe another 1 year plus to
go. there is no road connecting Song to the outside world. the Rejang river serves as the only means of transportation for the people dwelling in towns up river.
the largest town along the rejang river bank is Sibu and people commute there via express boats that cruise through the mighty river daily. so in other words, Song is pretty dead. and there is no entertainment. do you know there is no mosquitoes here in Song?? you know why? cause everyone
"pak bunk" (hokkien for killing mosquitoes) during their free time. and there is plenty of free time for the people here.
not that im complaning. i've always wanted to do this, even before i entered med school. you know, go to a small village and serve the ppl there. meet those deep in the interiors in their long houses. yeah, im doing what i've always wanted to do. and not many people have the chance to do what they really want to do in their lives. so i guess im quite fortunate.
hopefully there is more stories to write about song. gotta go now. got to go pak bunk now .
ps: just so you dont think im shitting you on the Similanjau story here is a
link to prove that the place actually exist. oh yeah but the story of how song got its name is definitely bullshit....
